The ice is off our little lake and last week the mercury soared to 80 degrees F … and that was up here in the Great White North! Records were set across the Northeast for high temperatures and I’m a little concerned. Harvey, the guy who plows our road in the winter says his maple syrup production is way down this year, and we’re getting mosquitoes in March. What’s up? When does it start to rain frogs?
Further to the discussion last week about the estate sale at my parents’ house, it made me feel good when so many people came up to me during the sale to speak fondly of my parents and of their selfless contributions to the local community. One comment about the liquidation phase of an estate: be wary of the armchair quarterbacks. Everyone is an expert, and a lot of people may think they know better than you what something is worth. Before we sold anything, I did my due diligence, hiring several independent appraisers, seeking the advice of friends who know a thing or two about art values, and generally apprising myself of the markets for various big ticket items. That which sold for x amount twenty years ago may be worth less today. Mom had beautiful furniture, but some of it was not particularly valuable locally. The one sucker punch I did not see coming was an encounter with a woman who had made a lowball offer on our house, angered because we hadn’t countered. She came to the estate sale specifically to let me know she would have offered more. What she did not know was that we had several other concurrent offers much closer to market value, with earnest money deposits (hers was insulting), and I and our agent made the executive decision about which offer to counter. I did not take her bait, and merely gave this inconsiderate woman a simpleton’s smile and a “you-snooze-you-lose” shrug. The house was sold to the highest, most creditworthy bidder, end of story. That she chose to hit me with her nonsense as my home of fifty-three years was being cleaned out displayed a complete lack of class. While I am comfortable with almost every decision I made with regards to my parents’ estate, there is always somebody out there ready to tell me I did it wrong. In the end, I did everything I did with as much information as I could gather, and always with my parents’ wishes in the back of my mind. While it was not important to our acceptance of their offer, I like the new buyers and am comforted with the notion that decent people with two young kids will be the new owners of my parents’ house. I wish them all the happiness I experienced there.
Last Sunday was absolutely beautiful in Buffalo and I’m sure there was a huge turnout for Buffalo’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. By the end of the day, after I was through packing up the car, I cycled around town for an hour. All the drunken attendees were walking home from the parade and I was sorry I didn’t have my camera on hand. From my experience the Buffalo parade goers are generally well behaved, probably because Buffalonians are ninja drinkers. Still, there were several amusing displays of public intoxication. By contrast, in London, Ontario there was a huge alcohol-fueled riot on St. Patrick’s Day, prompting numerous arrests and causing substantial property damage. In a neighborhood with a large student population from local Fanshawe College, about 1000 rioters, many of them drunk, threw fireballs, bricks, and beer bottles at riot police, destroying property and looting the homes of local residents. The good news is that some of these so-called students incriminated themselves on Twitter and Facebook, posting videos of their “merry making” for all to see. This of course made it easy for police to tag them, and it makes me wonder what the boys and girls are learning in school these days. Certainly it’s not common sense. “Hey, let’s record ourselves attacking the police, looting houses, and blowing up vans … it’ll be cool!” The same thing happened at the G-20 summit in Toronto last summer; many of the worst offenders were recorded committing crimes and were eventually caught and charged. These days, when every cell phone is a camera, and when there are traffic cameras mounted at major intersections, isn’t it foolish to assume one can commit a violent act in a public place with impunity?
Finally, former V.P Dick Vader-Cheney just got a new heart and some would say it’s his first. Canadians chose their new NDP (New Democratic Party, or commie pinko) leader to fill deceased icon Jack Layton’s shoes. Racial tensions heated up in Orlando Florida in reaction to the death of 17 year old Trayvon Martin, a black teen, shot to death by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, allegedly in self defense. Was it really the hoodie? The way everyone is jumping on the bandwagon, I am reminded of Bonfire of the Vanities. Keep your eyes peeled for those raining frogs!
Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c2012 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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